Category Archives: Lunch

Lunch Box delivered directly to your child’s school, and best part is, it’s healthy and nutritious!! Sounds good to me, where do I sign up

Wanting to take the early morning stress out of preparing your children’s lunch box, then we found someone who will do just that for you. The New Luncher has recently launched in Singapore and Hong Kong, to help parents in preparing the best quality food for their children to have at school.

The New Luncher’s mission is simple: to promote healthy eating habits that children will keep for life, and help parents out who send their children’s lunch box to school. We all know the daily stress of thinking of new and interesting things to send in the lunch box, that are nutritious, not processed, nut free and most of all, food our children will eat. With a simple online ordering system, The New Launcher will deliver your Childs lunch box direct to the school, there is nothing you need to do.

The New Luncher:

choose ingredients carefully and work closely with trusted farmers and food suppliers to offer the very best ingredients.

they cook from scratch every single morning.

the menu has 60 different dishes every month.

Right after cooking, we deliver lunch boxes to school.

Meals are carefully developed and prepared by the head Chef Owner of the michelin-starred Saint Pierre, Emmanuel Stroobant

What’s inside the lunch box?

A choice of three mouthwatering main dishes crafted by a Michelin starred Chef daily: Western, Asian and Vegetarian

Tasteful freshly-made side options: Starters, Desserts, Snacks

And our promises: No MSG, No colouring, No artificial flavourings, No fried food, No processed food

Free delivery

Handled with care. Everything you have ordered for your child will be delivered by The New Luncher for free to school, right on time for lunch.

Prices start from SGD$7.90 per day. For more information and to order lunch boxes, click on the link https://thenewluncher.com

Bolognese is a staple in most families, and once you have it mastered everyone will pine over it. This is a recipe that my mum and Nonna taught me, so I can assure you it’s one of the best!

When making bolognese, always use the best quality meat you I can find, and also tomatoes. I love the 100% beef mince from The Meat Club, because it’s so lean and tender, so that’s what I’ve used. Another tip, always and I mean always make sure you buy Italian tinned tomatoes, trust me there is a difference. I use Cirio, there are so many brands on the market so you can use which ever your local supermarket stocks, just make sure they are made in Italy.

To achieve the best result with your bolognese, it’s best slow cooked, so to get the best result I use my Le Creuset to make the sauce. It’s a nice heavy based saucepan which is exactly what you need for slow cooking.

For the Pasta

Preparation

To make the sauce, heat your Le Creuset with nothing in it, once it’s hot add the beef mince and let it cook till all the water has come out of the meat.

Remove the meat from the pan and set aside. Add the olive oil to the pan, once it’s heated add the garlic, carrot’s and celery and fry gently for 10 minutes till the carrots and celery are soft.

Add the mince meat and stir with a wooden spoon to break it up into smaller chunks. Add the wine and allow it to bubble away for a few minutes to allow the alcohol to evaporate. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, fresh basil and salt. Leave to simmer for 2-3 hours.

Cook the penne (or whichever shape pasta you desire) in boiling salted water until al dente, then drain and mix with the sauce. Serve with freshly grated cheese.

Sausage rolls are always great at parties and to have in the freezer for those friends who drop in at the last minute. They are great for both kids and adults, and perfect to send in school lunch boxes and a great weekend lunch for the family!

Traditionally sausage rolls are made with sausage meat, but we have developed a recipe using 100% Australian lean beef mince from The Meat Club. When ordering from the Meat Club, your meat will arrive fresh so it’s perfect to prepare meals that can then be frozen and this is ideal for these sausage rolls.

Preparation

Preheat oven to 200°C and line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

Take a large bowl, add breadcrumbs, beef and unbeaten egg and using your hands, mix until well combined. Grate the zucchini, carrot and onion. Squeeze all excess water out of the zucchini, and add to the bowl, add herbs and season with salt and pepper. Mix again with your hands till well combine.

Place 1 pastry sheet on a floured surface and halve. Spoon 1/2 a cup of the mixture along the centre of each piece and shape it like a long thin sausage. Fold 1 edge of pastry over and tuck in beside filling, then fold over other side to make a roll, pressing down lightly to seal. I brushed in insider of the pastry with water to ensure it would seal.

Repeat with remaining pastry and filling. Place in the fridge to cool for 30 minutes, this will make the cutting easier.

Cut the rolls into bite size pieces. You should get 5 pieces from every roll. Remove from the fridge and brush with beaten egg, sprinkle with sesame seeds (optional).

Bake for 25-30 minutes until the rolls are lightly browned and cooked through. Serve with sauce on the side.

The key to a really tasty sausage roll is sausage filling. I would bet my last dollar that the last really tasty sausage roll you bought was made with sausage filling. Now I love a good sausage roll, but when I am making them at home for my kids, I tend to avoid sausage filling because it’s generally got stuff that is not so healthy for you (hence why it tastes so good!). But Sidecar Sausages has changed all that for me! We know that Sidecar Sausages contain no preservatives, additives, gluten, artificial colours, artificial flavours or extenders, so I’m happy to give these sausages to my kids. What I have recently learnt is, if you ask, the guys at Sidecars Sausages will sell you the sausage filling they use to create their yummy sausages. So it comes to you in a 500g container, just like if you had ordered 500g of mince. You can then use the sausage filling to make homemade sausage rolls! The filling already containers all the flavour and seasoning you need to create to die for sausage rolls, you don’t need to add a thing! You just scoop out the filling, wrap it in pastry and bake it, so unbelievably easy!

The recipe below uses the Italian sausage filling which is mild enough for kids but still packed full of flavour. I will be trying this out with some of Sidecar’s more grown up flavours, to create adult sausage rolls which would be great to serve with before dinner drinks or at a drinks party. I particularly think the Thai Chicken filling with a really delicious sweet chilli dipping sauce would be sensational. Watch this space, I will share the recipe as soon as I make them! And for a beautiful way to display your sausage rolls, click here to order your own personalised chopping board from Gifts Less Ordinary.

Easy Sausage Rolls with Sidecar Sausages

Makes 30 mini sausage rolls

Ingredients

500g Sidecar Sausage Italian sausage filling

3 sheets frozen puff pastry, just thawed

1 lightly beaten egg

sesame seeds

Salt and pepper to taste (optional)

Method

Preheat oven to 200°C and line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

Take the sausage filling and add salt and pepper if using.

Place 1 pastry sheet on a floured surface and halve. Spoon 1/2 a cup of the mixture along the centre of each piece and shape it like a long thin sausage. Fold 1 edge of pastry over and tuck in beside filling, then fold over other side to make a roll, pressing down lightly to seal. Repeat with remaining pastry and filling. Cut the rolls into bite size pieces. You should get 5 pieces from every roll. Place on baking sheets, cover and chill for 30 minutes. Remove from the fridge and brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the rolls are lightly browned and cooked through. Serve with sauce on the side.

To order Sidecar Sausages or find out where you can buy them, click on the link here.

Mini meat balls are another great party food option, suitable for both kids and adults!. To give our meatballs a Christmas flair, we skewered them to create cute little snowmen.

Ingredients

1kg pork and beef mince

1 cup breadcrumbs

2 eggs

¼ cup cooking cream

2 teaspoons Italian mixed herbs

salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons olive oil (or any frying oil of your choice)

Bamboo sticks

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl, combine your pork and beef mince and mix with your hands till well combine. Add your breadcrumbs, eggs, cooking cream, and some herbs. I like to use mixed Italian herbs but you can use any herbs of your choice. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Roll 2 teaspoons of the mixture into a ball. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining mixture. Leave rolled meatballs to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before cooking.

In a heavy based frying pan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add some meatballs. Cook for 4 minutes or until just browned. Do not to put too many meatballs in the frying pan, otherwise they will soak up too much oil and not cook as quickly. Repeat this step till all your meatballs are cooked.

To assemble into a snowman, copy and paste the picture below into a word document, resize so that you can fit 6 snowmen per page and then print. Cut out the head and scarf ready to be glued on to a bamboo stick.

The bamboo sticks will obviously be too long, so you need to cut them to size. Hold a bamboo stick up beside 2 meatballs stacked one on top of the other, leave space at the top of the stick to glue on the head and then snip the stick with scissors. Glue the head on the end where you have snipped and then push the pointy end through the 2 meatballs.

There is only ONE golden rule when making classic Napolitano Italian pasta sauce, you MUST use Italian tinned tomatoes. Always check the label and ensure they are MADE IN ITALY. I promise you, your sauce will be so much sweeter if you use Italian tomatoes.

Some of the brands of tinned tomatoes I buy are; Val Verde, Ansalisa, Cirio, Mutti, Granoro and Vesu.

Ingredients:

2 tins of Italian tomatoes whole or diced

3 cloves garlic

1 tablespoons olive oil

small handful of fresh Italian basil (dried is also fine)

2 teaspoons salt

Instructions:

Using an electric blender, pulse your tinned tomatoes till there are no lumps. I always wash out my tins with a small amount of water, roughly ¼ of the tin filled with water. Add the water to the blender and quickly pulse again.

Heat the olive oil in a medium sized frying pan. Add garlic and let it cook for 1-2 minutes, making sure the garlic does not burn.

Add the tomatoes to the frying pan, along with basil and salt. Cook for 1 hour on a low heat with the lid covering the pan but not sealed. It’s important not to cover your saucepan as you want the water to evaporate and the tomatoes to reduce.

Serve with fresh pasta. This sauce can be used for lasagna, the base of Bolognese, Caponata, or any other dish that requires a basic tomato sauce.

Instructions:

Taking a spoonful of mixture at a time, shape into round patties. Leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Heat the grill or a frying pan with olive oil. Cook the burgers for roughly 2-3 minutes on each side. Remove the burgers from the grill or pan and leave to rest for a few minutes.

Cut a burger bun in a half. Spread mayonnaise on one side of the bread and tomato sauce on the other. Add sliced tomatoes, cheese and lettuce then top with your burger patty. You can add any salad toppings to your burgers, this is just a suggestion.

Risotto is such a wholesome meal for kids; it provides them with carbohydrates as well as vegetables and protein all in one dish. This dish is great if you are cooking for infants, toddlers and older children, there is no need to prepare separate meals – my 10 month old loves this dish along with my 4 year old.

Serves 4 Children

Ingredients:

1 small onion finely diced

1 knob of butter

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1 cup of Arborio rice

3 cups of chicken stock

½ cup of finely grated pumpkin

¼ cup grated parmesan

Instructions:

In a small saucepan bring let chicken stock simmer on a medium heat with the lid on.

Peel onion and finely slice and set aside in a bowl.

Peel the skin off pumpkin and finely grate and set aside.

In a saucepan heat add butter, olive oil and onion let the onions cook till they are soft.

Add rice to the onions and cook for 1-2 minutes or until the rice starts to go slightly translucent. Make sure you continually stir coating all the rice in the oil, butter and onions.

Add two ladles of hot stock and continuously until the stock is completely absorbed by the rice. Continue adding ladles of hot stock until the rice is almost cooked through.

Stir through the grated pumpkin. Keep stirring it into the risotto to ensure it cooks through.

Add the grated parmesan and chicken pieces from your stick, and stir these ingredients through the risotto gently. Cover and leave to rest for a couple of minutes.

Your risotto is now ready to serve! Season to taste and enjoy

Chicken Stock

Ingredients:

1kg of chicken carcasses

2.5L water

3 sticks of celery roughly chopped

1 medium carrot roughly chopped

4-5 stalks of parsley

Salt

Instructions:

Place the chicken carcasses, carrot, celery including the leaves and parsley in a large, deep-bottomed pan. Add cold water and bring to the boil.

Skim the top of the water with a spoon taking off the foam that has surfaced.

Add as much salt as you would like, turning the heat down to a simmer. Continue to simmer gently for 3-4 hours, skimming as necessary, and then pass the stock through a fine sieve.

When the stock has cooled and you have put it through the sieve, strip all the chicken away from the bones and add to the stock.

If you don’t need to use the stock immediately, divide into plastic containers and freeze it. It will keep in the fridge for about 4 days and in the freezer for 2-3 months.

Stock is one of those things that’s so easy to pick up from the supermarket shelf, but i promise it’s dead simple to make, it’s a set and forget thing to make. Chop up the veggie’s, put the chicken inn, add water and just leave it to cook. The taste is definitely worth the little time it took to do.

Salmon is such a versatile fish that can be used in many different dishes. Salmon with brown rice is an easy and delicious way to get your kids to eat a wider variety of fish.

This is a very easy meal to prepare, and if you have any leftovers put it in the school lunch box the next day.

Ingredients:

½ cup brown rice

¼ cup quinoa

1 shallot

1 cup of frozen peas (let them defrost)

3/4 cup bean sprouts

2 teaspoons coconut oil

2 teaspoons soy

Salmon Marinade

2 salmon fillets

2 teaspoons soy

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon coconut oil

¼ teaspoon grated ginger

Instructions:

Firstly, make your rice by combining brown rice and quinoa and cook. I use the absorption method; you can do it any way you like.

Combine soy, honey, coconut oil and grated ginger and whisk, add salmon and leave to marinade in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or longer.

In a frying pan heat coconut oil, add shallots and sauté till soft. Add peas and cook further till the peas have softened. Add rice and soy sauce. Once you have mixed the vegetables through the rice, add the bean sprouts just for a few minutes to quickly cook so they remain crunchy.

Heat either a bbq, grill plate or frying pan to cook the salmon. (I used a bbq) You should not need any more oil if you are using a frying pan. Cook the salmon for 3-4 minutes on each side or until it’s cooked through.

Plate up your rice then flake the salmon on top.

* Tip – don’t put the skin side of the salmon straight on your cooking plate, it will stick and make a mess. Cook the other side/s of the salmon.

I have designed this meal for the kids, but it’s ideal for the entire family.